Poroshenko fires oligarch governor amid oil company standoff

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree relieving Dnepropetrovsk Governor Igor Kolomoysky from his post, the president’s website said. The resignation came after a meeting between the two, amid the ongoing standoff around oil giant Ukrnafta.

According to the
presidential website, Kolomoysky decided to hand in his
resignation, which the president accepted.

“We need to ensure peace, stability and tranquility.
Dnepropetrovsk region should remain a bastion of Ukraine in the
east,” Poroshenko said while commenting on his decision.
Meanwhile, Valentin Reznichenko was named acting governor of the
eastern region.

The seemingly peaceful resolution came in stark contrast with
statements voiced earlier by Kolomoysky’s deputy, Gennady Korban,
who on Tuesday said that “Kiev is occupied by thieves, and
these thieves must go and free the way for honest people”
and accused Poroshenko’s government of “lying” about
decentralization of power in the country and success in the
so-called anti-terror operation in the east.

Earlier, media speculated on possible threats posed by Kolomoysky
to Kiev after the oligarch was quoted as expressing support for
decentralization reforms and talking about the possibility of
separatist uprisings in Dnepropetrovsk. “I don’t want
that...but anything can happen,” he told France 24 TV
channel.

The conflict involving Kolomoysky, whose net worth is estimated
at US$1.3 billion by Forbes, erupted after the Ukrainian
parliament, Verkhovna Rada, on Thursday passed a law stipulating
that the state could manage any company in which it has a
majority share.

Kolomoysky’s companies own about 43 percent of Ukrnafta, the
country’s biggest oil company, and the government controls just
over half the shares. According to previous legislation, the
state needs 60 percent ownership to exercise active control over
a part-private company, which meant that Kolomoysky could treat
Ukrnafta as his own property – including withholding dividends
from the state and sabotaging quorums at board meetings.

After the government fired Kolomoysky’s protégé from
Ukrtransnafta – an energy company in which the oligarch also has
a stake – Kolomoysky occupied its office with camouflaged men on
Friday, accusing the government of being “Russian
saboteurs” and “corporate raiders.” He also
reportedly threatened to “bring 2,000 volunteer fighters to
Kiev” before being persuaded to stand down.

On Saturday, Ukrainian media reported that Kolomoysky’s
Privatbank had blocked Poroshenko’s account of $50 million after
the president – a major oligarch himself – scolded the
ex-governor for “professional misconduct.”

Then on Sunday, fighters of the Dnepr-1 battalion funded by
Kolomoysky took control of Ukrnafta’s central Kiev offices.